i took rowan in for his 18-month check up at the pediatrician's this afternoon. he weighed in at 24 lbs (25th percentile) and measured 32 and 1/4 in. long (50th percentile), with a 19 in. head circumference. the dr. and i talked about the fact that he only says "mama" and "bye bye" with any regularity, and she was not concerned in the least. she told me boys speak later than girls, and that as long as we are talking to him and encouraging him to use words, then he will start to talk whenever he's ready. i already knew that, but it was nice to hear her say it. : ) and he is starting to speak more... he said "grape" in the grocery store yesterday, and when micah asked him how his day was, he said "good." and earlier tonight, i would swear he said, "i fell down."

we had a wonderful, relaxing day today. we played around the house and watched movies (there's been a little too much of that going on lately, i'm afraid) all morning and early afternoon, then at 3 pm we went to rowan's appointment, then we came home and played some more, ate dinner around 6, then closer to 7 we headed down to the playground. there were a bunch of kids there, including one 2 and 1/2-year-old little girl named ava with whom micah immediately bonded, and they spent the whole time running around after each other. ava's dad was nice; we chatted while the girls played, and after hearing that they live near audelia and forest, i told him about the splash pad that our LLL friday playgroup meets at on friday mornings during the summer.

i am sooo excited about tomorrow! i'm surprising my stepmom, vesta, and my grandmother, jo ann, with an afternoon coffee break at patti's place in plano, for an early mother's day present. this is where i went to the mom's day out last saturday. it's right up vesta and jo ann's alley; i can't wait. my mom and dad are being kind enough to help with the surprise part, and with watching micah and rowan. i was originally going to do this on may 9th, the saturday before mother's day... but patti's place is only serving high tea that saturday, which sounds fun, but is twice as expensive per person. and because of other scheduling conflicts, the only other saturday i could've done it was may 22nd... and that just seemed too far away! so i made plans at the last minute for tomorrow, which meant i needed someone to watch micah and rowan because josh already had plans for tomorrow with andy. SO, my dad called and invited my grandparents over tomorrow for a "late lunch", and when i arrive to take vesta and jo ann to patti's place, they will be sooo surprised (my grandfather's in on it). : ) yay!